Kermit Gosnell Sentenced to Life In Prison

May 15, 2013: “I have seen a lot of senseless and cruel acts as the District Attorney of Philadelphia, but this case is arguably the most gruesome,” said District Attorney Seth Williams. “I will not mince words, Kermit Gosnell is a monster. Any doctor who cuts into the necks severing the spinal cords of living, breathing babies, who would survive with proper medical attention, is a murderer and a monster. He knowingly and systematically mistreated female patients for years, which ultimately resulted in the tragic death of Karnamaya Mongar.”

72-year-old Kermit Gosnell was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences for the deaths of three babies, known as Baby A, C and D, who were born alive but were killed when their spinal cords were severed with a pair of scissors. Gosnell also received an additional two and a half to five consecutive years for manslaughter charges relating to the death of Mrs. Mongar. Gosnell was also sentenced to concurrent sentences for the remaining charges against him. A jury of seven women and five men on Monday convicted Kermit Gosnell of First Degree Murder, Involuntary Manslaughter, Conspiracy, Performing Abortions at 24 or more weeks, and other related charges.

“I would like to thank the jurors for their hard work,” continued the District Attorney. “This was an exhausting and often times morbid ten week trial, and I applaud you for tremendous fortitude. I would like to give my heartfelt respect and gratitude to Ann Ponterio, Joanne Pescatore, Edward Cameron, Suzan Willcox, Mariana Sorensen, Christine Wechsler, Officer John Taggert , Officer James Woods, Officer Bob Flade, Officer Terry Lewis, Detective Jack McDermott, Officer Carlos Cruz, Detective Aaron Booker, Detective Tim Bass, Sgt. Bob Kuhlmeier and Lt. Mark Deegan. You all have worked everyday on this case since the Women’s Medical Clinic was raided in 2010. I hope that the family and friends of Kermit Gosnell’s victims will be able to feel a small sense of justice with the resolution of this case.”

“This was a groundbreaking criminal prosecution, where this office, these prosecutors and most importantly these 12 jurors found these heinous acts to be willful, intentional, deliberate, premeditated murders. This doctor’s illegal purposeful actions against the smallest and most vulnerable human beings born alive were properly called murder by our citizens, and we have acted to seal and preserve those verdicts for all time. The defendant was also found guilty of dozens of other charges which demonstrated his pattern of endangering the lives of his patients, mostly poor women. It is our highest priority that these important verdicts are protected forever, not vulnerable to being disturbed by other lawyers or other courts. By our decision, we have ensured and secured these landmark verdicts forever,” concluded the District Attorney.

Jurors also found Gosnell’s co-defendant 56-year-old Eileen O’Neill guilty of Conspiracy and Theft charges. Eileen O’Neill will be sentenced on July 15, 2013 in courtroom 304. She is currently on house arrest after posting a $30,000 bail.

On February 18, 2010, a raid on Gosnell’s office, called the Women’s Medical Society, in West Philadelphia by the District Attorney’s Office and the FBI uncovered the horrors inside. Law enforcement officers happened upon the medical abuses in the course of investigating tips that the doctor had been illegally selling thousands of prescriptions for oxycontin and other narcotics to “patients” that he never examined. The raid revealed that bags and bottles holding aborted fetuses were scattered throughout the building. Jars containing the severed feet of babies lined a shelf. Furniture and equipment was dusty, broken, and blood-stained. The doctor himself was seldom present. In his absence, untrained and unsupervised workers, (one of them a teenage girl) routinely injected dangerous sedatives into women undergoing illegal late-term abortions.

A year long grand jury investigation revealed that, for over two decades, government health and licensing officials had received repeated reports about Gosnell’s dangerous practices. No action was ever taken, however, even after the agencies learned that women had died during routine abortions under Gosnell’s care.

Gosnell, a family practitioner who was never certified as an OB/GYN, operated the clinic for years primarily treating lower income, minority women. Along with performing abortions beyond the legal 24 weeks time, he is also accused of delivering and then killing healthy, viable babies; using a sliding pay scale to administer anesthesia; re-using unsanitary instruments; performing procedures in filthy rooms-some of the rooms had litter boxes and animals present at the time of the operations; and allowing unlicensed employees to perform operations and administer anesthesia-including a teenaged high school student.

Kermit Gosnell, and nine other employees at the Women’s Medical Center were charged with crimes for the illegal practices at the clinic. Eight of those other employees, including Gosnell’s wife, all pleaded guilty to the charges against them.